Washington Capitals’ Nick Jensen leaves game with upper-body injury

Washington Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen sustained an upper-body injury during Wednesday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. 

Jensen logged just 2:29 of ice time through three shifts before making his way to the locker room and being ruled out for the remainder of the game. 

The injury comes just one day after Jensen signed a three-year, $12.15 million extension with the Capitals. According to our friends at CapFriendly, the contract holds a cap hit of $4.05 million beginning in the 2023-24 campaign and running through 2025-26. The 32-year-old is currently in the final year of a four-year $10 million contract the signed in 2019; he was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Jensen has registered a career-high 24 points in 62 games this season. He plays a critical role on the penalty kill and currently sits third among Capitals players logging 20:58 of ice time per game.

The Rogers, Minnesota product was originally selected 150th overall in the 2009 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. He was dealt to the Capitals in 2019 for Madison Bowey and a fifth-round pick. Throughout his seven-year career with the Red Wings and Capitals, he has registered 115 points (15 goals, 100 assists) in 469 contests.

The Capitals are currently 29-27-6 sitting sixth in the Metropolitan Division and have a points percentage of .561%. It is a race in the Wild Card right now between the Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres to see who can catch up to the Pittsburgh Penguins who sit at 69 points and New York Islanders at 70 points. Look for an update on Jensen’s status in the coming days.